Sony Executive Suggests Mobile Has Killed The Need for a New PS Vita

The PS Vita, Sony's oft-forgotten handheld console probably won't be getting a successor any time soon, if comments from Sony Computer Entertainment's Worldwide Studio is anything to go by.

According to Eurogamer Shuhei Yoshida, who was speaking at EGX 2015, said that the climate was "not healthy" for a PS Vita 2. The reason? We all carry powerful mobile devices in our pockets, of course.

"People have mobile phones and it's so easy to play games on smartphones," he is quoted as saying. "And many games on smartphones are free, or free to start."

He apparently added:

"I myself am a huge fan of PlayStation Vita and we worked really hard on designing every aspect. Touch-based games are fun - there are many games with really good design. But having sticks and buttons make things totally different.

"So I hope, like many of you, that this culture of playing portable games continues but the climate is not healthy for now because of the huge dominance of mobile gaming."

Perhaps this is unsurprising given the huge changes that have taken place in the mobile industry since the Vita was first released in 2011. Back then, smartphones were not entirely ubiquitous, and free-to-play as a business model had not been as fully realised as it is today. As Eurogamer notes, both the PS Vita and Nintendo's rival 3DS have sold less units than their predecessor consoles have done over the same period - suggesting that people don't want separate games machines any more.

The question now will be how much longer will the Vita limp on? Given the lack of major game releases, and the fact that most big titles eventually get re-released on consoles surely sooner or later Sony will admit defeat and pull the plug? [Eurogamer]